oppn parties A Nation Cheering Bronze While Its Golds Vanish

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  • Home Ministry confirms ITBP chiefs face-off claim with Chinese troops and says that it happens when the Chinese diverge from established patrolling patterns
  • Voting took place on Friday for 28 Legislative Council seats across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka and Maharashtra, covering graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies. Counting is scheduled for October 27, with the contests attracting attention ahead of the next round of state-level political battles
  • Delhi Police detained student activists and civil-society members during a march towards the Election Commission headquarters against the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s removal
  • The Delhi High Court dismissed a petition by All India Students’ Association president Neha Bora challenging a police notice requiring her to furnish a ₹10,000 personal bond and a surety to maintain peace. The court also directed that the material relied upon by the authorities be furnished to her
  • Kolkata Police arrested two more people, including the treasurer of the Chorbagan Durga Puja committee, in connection with the stampede that killed 19 people on October 17, taking the total number of arrests to nine. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said human error was primarily responsible for the Chorbagan stampede, while stressing that the retired judge leading the inquiry would determine the circumstances and findings
  • Haryana’s three-day electricity employees’ strike ended on Friday after Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini assured union representatives that the government would oppose parallel power-distribution licences for Gurugram and Nuh. Energy Minister Anil Vij said the state would invoke Section 108 of the Electricity Act and seek a review of the regulator’s decision, which had triggered the strike and disrupted power supplie
  • The India Meteorological Department warned that a low-pressure system over the Bay of Bengal could intensify into a cyclone by October 26 and move towards the north Andhra Pradesh–south Odisha coast. The forecast indicated the possibility of thunderstorms and heavy rain in parts of southern West Bengal from October 28, although the system’s eventual intensity and track remained uncertain
  • The Union government proposed changes to its Periodic Labour Force Survey to improve measurement of digital-platform workers and unpaid activities, including caregiving, household production and volunteer work
  • India’s private-sector business activity expanded at its fastest pace in four months in October, according to the preliminary HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index compiled by S&P Global. The composite index rose to 56.7 from September’s 55.9, driven by stronger services activity, but employment was unchanged, ending a nine-month run of hiring growth
  • The ₹30,213-crore initial public offering of Jio Platforms closed on Friday with an overall subscription of 22.19 times, attracting bids worth approximately ₹4.90 lakh crore. Institutional investors subscribed to their reserved portion 70.55 times, while the issue received more than 13.8 million applications, setting a record for an Indian public offering
  • A dispute over the India–UK trade agreement emerged after a trade association representing major liquor companies asked the Indian commerce minister to clarify whether bulk Scotch whisky imports qualified for the reduced 75% tariff agreed under the pact
  • Indian equity markets fell for a fourth consecutive trading session on Friday, with the Nifty 50 closing at 22,600, down 0.39%, and the Sensex at 73,123.83, down 0.17%. Both benchmarks recorded weekly losses as Brent crude approached $114 a barrel, intensifying concerns about inflation, corporate earnings and imported energy costs
  • Asian Para Games: India collected nine gold medals on the penultimate day to take its medal tally to 114, including 30 gold, 35 silver and 49 bronze, the highest in these games. India remained fourth on the table
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by nine wickets in the first women’s ODI in Vadodara, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Pratika Rawal scored an unbeaten 100, while Shree Charani claimed career-best figures of 4/23 as Zimbabwe were dismissed for 197 and India reached the target in 27.1 overs
  • Ishan Kishan was ruled out of the second T20 international against New Zealand after sustaining a low-grade strain in his right adductor muscle during the opening match. The BCCI said its medical team was monitoring his recovery but did not specify when he might return
Indo_-Tibetan Border Police chief Shatrujit Kapur says there have been ,utliple face-offs with Chinese troops across the Line of Actual Control
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A Nation Cheering Bronze While Its Golds Vanish

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2026-10-02 05:37:30

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

India has not moved forward since Hangzhou. It has moved backward and is calling it a good effort.

The Times of India's article today by  Sabi Hussain on the Aichi-Nagoya Games sets out the record. India won 28 golds in 2023, and by Thursday it had lost 20 of those titles. The medal tally has passed 60, against 106 last time. The report also notes that the nine individual golds from Hangzhou, spread across shooting, athletics and archery, had not been defended. These are the events decided by one athlete and the clock, with no teammate to share the burden. India has lost its grip on exactly those.

The ten golds India does hold tell a narrower story. Nine of them came in team, relay or mixed events. One came from an individual athlete, Neeru Dhanda in women's trap. A country with the ambitions India announces should not depend so heavily on formats where a single strong squad can carry the result. Depth in individual sport is what separates a power from a participant, and the numbers show India is thin there.

The reaction is the second failure. Defending squash champions returned with a bronze. A wrestling silver was celebrated because India had waited since 1962 for one. Tennis returned without a medal for the first time since 1986. In each case the coverage found a reason for comfort. A nation that measures itself against its own low points will always find a small win to cheer. It will never find the reason it is falling behind.

The hockey semifinal shows the habit clearly. India built a 3-0 lead over Pakistan, let them claw back, and won 4-3 with seconds left. The result is a place in the final, and that deserves credit. But a champion that nearly throws away a three-goal lead has a problem that the scoreline hides. Relief is not the same as dominance, and the post-match mood confused the two.

Other Asian powers will read these results as an opening. Their programmes plan across years, treat the Asiad as part of a longer preparation, and do not stop to celebrate a single podium. India's athletes often do remarkable things in spite of the structure around them. The question to put to the federations is why the structure produces so few repeat champions. Who selected the squads, who decided the funding, and who answers when a defending gold medallist does not reach a final? Those answers should be on the record, with names and dates.

India's talent is not the issue. Its tolerance for mediocrity is. A system that is never held to account will keep producing the same result and the same explanation. Each time, the public will be told that progress is under way. The medal table says otherwise.


Read the Times of India article


After this article was written, four more individual gold medals were won in brilliant performances by Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), Parveen Hooda (65 kg) and Ankush Panghal (80 kg) in boxing and Sujeet Kalkal (65kg) in men's freestyle wrestling

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